FAW Withdraws Support for Gianni Infantino's FIFA Presidency

The Football Association of Wales has dramatically withdrawn its backing for Gianni Infantino’s bid to stay on as Fifa president, delivering the most direct institutional rebuke yet to the under-fire Swiss administrator.

The move comes in the wake of Infantino’s failed attempt to sell off stakes in the World Cup to private investors – a proposal so widely condemned that three confederations rejected it outright before he abruptly shelved the plan last week.

For Infantino, it is another crack in what was once seen as an unshakeable grip on world football’s top job. His decade-long spell at the helm now faces scrutiny from both politicians and the game’s own powerbrokers.

In the UK, the pressure has been building. The prime minister, Andy Burnham, publicly branded Infantino “the wrong man” to lead Fifa, a stark intervention from a head of government into football politics. England’s Football Association followed by demanding a “full and robust review” of his leadership, signalling that concerns have moved well beyond private grumbling in committee rooms.

Wales have now gone further than anyone.

In a strongly worded statement, the FAW announced: “The Football Association of Wales hereby confirms its withdrawal of support for the candidature of Mr Gianni Infantino, for re-election as Fifa president for the 2027–2031 term.”

The governing body did not stop there. It laid out, point by point, the reasons it no longer trusts the man in charge of the global game.

“The recent failures in good governance, processes, leadership, values, stakeholder management, communications and sound judgement have led us to a position where Mr Infantino has lost the confidence of the FAW to remain at the helm of world football.

“Failing to put the best interests of football first is a failure we cannot accept.”

Those lines cut to the heart of the current discontent. Infantino’s World Cup investment scheme was seen by many inside the sport as a step too far, a commercial land grab that risked compromising the tournament’s integrity and long-term control. When three confederations pushed back and the plan was abandoned, it did not feel like a tactical retreat. It felt like a president misreading the room.

Now, with re-election scheduled for March next year, the political landscape around Fifa is shifting. The FAW has become the first association to formally pull its support, but it is unlikely to be the last federation weighing up its position.

Infantino has survived controversy before and built alliances across multiple continents. This time, though, the opposition is louder, more organised, and increasingly public. The question is no longer whether there is disquiet over his leadership.

It is how many more will follow Wales’ lead before the ballot is called.